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Night Owl 2



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12233

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Awards

Top Shot Award 22
Legendary Award
Contest Finalist in Animals And The Night Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Rule Of Thirds Extravaganza Photo Contest
Featured
Contest Finalist in Creative Composition Photo Contest Vol 2
Winner in More than 200 Peer Awards Photo Challenge
Contest Finalist in Inspiring Shots Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Into The Moonlight Photo Contest
Winner in Owl Love You Forever Photo Challenge
Contest Finalist in Dodho Volume 3 Photo Contest
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Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
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Magnificent Capture
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Superior Skill
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Jaw Dropping
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Love it
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Top Ranks

Creative Boundaries Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
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Our World At Night Photo ContestTop 10 rank
The Talent AwardsTop 10 rank
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Post Editing Magic Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Creative Compositions Photo Contest Vol4Top 20 rank
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World Photography Day Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
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Animals And The Night Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Rule Of Thirds Extravaganza Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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The Beauty Of Birds Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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Our Natural World Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 1
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32 Comments | Report
donanzinger PRO
 
donanzinger August 11, 2014
Fantastic image!
johnmdavies PRO
johnmdavies August 21, 2014
thank you appreciated
Ayersphotography PRO
 
Ayersphotography August 24, 2014
Great Image!
johnmdavies PRO
johnmdavies August 24, 2014
Thank you
PicsIsMe
 
PicsIsMe September 05, 2014
Wow!
anitadaigremelon
 
anitadaigremelon November 02, 2014
I am a sucker for moon shots, but add a wonderful animal such as this and your expertise......wow
texaaronpueschel Platinum
 
texaaronpueschel November 06, 2014
Voted again.
DVallas
 
DVallas November 20, 2014
Right place right time.....great capture
sallymac4
 
sallymac4 December 06, 2014
Love it!
ChrisKIELY
 
ChrisKIELY January 15, 2015
This should have won Doho Voolume 3. It is exceptional!
JVendetti
 
JVendetti January 15, 2015
This is amazing! absolutely perfect!
erichamilton
 
erichamilton January 18, 2015
Nice very nice.
ellesoleil
 
ellesoleil April 26, 2015
Excellent capture!
johnmdavies PRO
johnmdavies April 26, 2015
Thank you :-)
michellesol
 
michellesol May 08, 2015
Just amazing !!!
Daisy63
 
Daisy63 May 13, 2015
Wow!! Love this shot!
johnmdavies PRO
johnmdavies May 13, 2015
Thanks Daisy :-)
iluvpics Ultimate
 
iluvpics May 13, 2015
Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!
johnmdavies PRO
johnmdavies May 13, 2015
:-)
abijur PRO+
 
abijur May 14, 2015
insane!
rpdhjja PRO+
 
rpdhjja May 16, 2015
High class photo...
CARDELPhotography
 
CARDELPhotography May 16, 2015
Excellent!!!
HawksRise PRO+
 
HawksRise July 09, 2015
I LOVE this!!!
JDLifeshots
 
JDLifeshots July 11, 2015
Great job! Congrats.
nanettecharlandgodin
 
nanettecharlandgodin July 13, 2015
absolutely gorgeous !!!
eelcovanroden PRO+
 
eelcovanroden October 18, 2015
Congratulations with your Challenge win!!
Cavanrose
 
Cavanrose September 19, 2016
Beautiful !
rindrarandhy
 
rindrarandhy January 22, 2017
So greatly composed! Amazing!
kittirain
 
kittirain March 18, 2017
Absolutely gorgeous! Love the colours
johnmdavies PRO
johnmdavies March 19, 2017
Thank you
trishhennessy
 
trishhennessy May 11, 2017
Just. WOW!
Deepikanaik
 
Deepikanaik May 12, 2017
Loved it
tassietom
 
tassietom May 22, 2017
Beautiful photo, superb!
Lesabre1954 Platinum
 
Lesabre1954 May 23, 2017
Great capture and composition!
matej007
 
matej007 August 08, 2017
Wow
Scarlet1989
 
Scarlet1989 September 23, 2017
Wow great shot!
johnmdavies PRO
johnmdavies September 23, 2017
Thank you Scarlet
amytychx
 
amytychx January 09, 2020
Wow wow wow. Amazing shot. Did you have to wait a long time to get this?
johnmdavies PRO
johnmdavies January 09, 2020
You need to read behind the lens Amy but thank you
JenRaymond PRO+
 
JenRaymond October 09, 2020
Magnificent!!
See all

Behind The Lens

Location

Well this is actually two photo's one is a studio shot of the Transformer Owl which immediately strikes you with it's stunning eyes. In this shot I have only used the studio flash to the right of the Owl in total I took 15 shots of the owl min different light conditions and ofcourse natural poses from the Owl The studio was in a Bird Sanctuary in Ringwood near the New Forest in the UK The film speed was set at 100 ISO shutter speed down to 1/125 sec using a 100-400mm Canon Zoom Lens, Aperture f6.3 manual shooting Mode. As studio shots they lacked Soul and the second shot wasn't shot until 4 weeks later from my own back yard, it took at least ten shots to capture the moon and tree's in the right sequence and position< knowing I wished to add the Owl with the lighting from the right the settings for this shot, This time from a tripod and again using the same Lens but the shutter speed set at 3sec, film speed 320 aperture f/11

Time

first shot midday on a very hot studio day, the second late evening

Lighting

Lighting is the most important feature especially in creating this shot the bird fully lite would not look right but false, am I trying to trick you to think this is an Owl sat on a post conveniently under the moon. Hell yes but I couldn't of done that without having the forethought to get both the original photograph setting right in the first place. Photography has become mainstream but it has also become possible to be more individual of what we choose to produce.

Equipment

Using Canon Camera's all my life from a A1 onto a 50E onto digital 400D, 600D and now the wonderful 70D also slowly improving my lenses as time progresses

Inspiration

The inspiration for the Photo has to be the Love of Owls and their Eye's that mesmerize and become the focal point of any photo. that together with the drive to experiment and produce art using the technology and imagination that now surrounds us in the 21st century. What inspires me though is other peoples photographs how did that turn water to a silky flow etc

Editing

Little did I understand at the time but the technique I have used for this photograph is used by many a professional for me it continues to be a journey to not only take and capture one off shots but also to think outside the box to use post processing but to think about that in the pictures we are taking ie. for me to imagine the picture and then to produce the lighting and background to produce the final piece of art The photo's were taken in RAW format and slightly tweaked for sharpness and definition, the background cropped and the Owl copied as a layer and scaled to suit. Minor shading to one side to highlight the moons rays

In my camera bag

As for my normal companions in my back a big slice of imagination, Camera Canon 70D, which normally has attached the Brilliant Tamron 18-270 zoom giving me instant flexibility. However given time to plan the 100-400 Canon zoom is never far away, coupled with my other favourite lens the 60mm Macro. and ofcourse a spare battery or two

Feedback

as for Advice it has to be don't be afraid to experiment anything is possible and strive via sites like these to let the Photographs others have taken to inspire for you to produce better shots. Whether its like other shots in my collection one off one chance Air displays where planning to have the right lenses and POV are so important. take your camera off of full auto and experiment. Or like this one take the opportunity, plan your image and be patient, learn by practicing your favoured photoshop software. it's all part of the skill, learn to take good photo's first as software cant make a bad exposure perfect it can improve it, but your after perfection. or should be your aim as you can never reach that. If you think you have think again.

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